Improvement in lamp-wicks



UNITED STATES CALVIN I?. LADD, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAMP-WICKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,917, dated February 20, 1872.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CALVIN P. LADD, of Bloomfield, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamp-VVicks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which represents my Wick partly in section.

The 'invention relates more particularly to the manufacture of that class of at wicks which are commonly used in kerosene or coaloil lamps, but tubular wicks for use in students7 lamps, so called, may be made in the saine manner or upon the same principle when desired. Many attempts have been made to manufacture a wickout of felted goods, but Without success, owing to the fact that they did not possess, as heretofore constructed, a sufcient amount of capillary attraction, arising partly from a lack of continuity of ber in the direction of the length of the wick, and partly to the fact vthat a felt of sufcient strength, when made of the usual material and in the usual manner, is too close in texture to afford a free ow of oil, these defects being particularly noticeable when a wick of much length is required as when the oil is nearly out of a lamp.

Vith a view to remedy the above-recited defects I have made this invention, which consists essentially in forming the bat from which the wicks are made by combining with cotton, hemp, wool, -or other suitable material adapted to be united or knit by the ordinary felting process, a small portion of wood or other vegetable ber which is not adapted to be united with the rest of the material in a homogeneous body, but which, on the contrary, retains its individuality, though surrounded by the felted ber. In fact every I thread or piece of the wood ber is surrounded by a separate cell or tube, as it were, of its own, thus making the bat extremely porous, the tubes or interstices being practically, if not, in fact, continuous, from one end of the wick to the other, and forming effective conducts for the oil.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, I will proceed to describe onemode glich I have adopted for carrying it into e ect.

I take a quantity of brous material, such as cotton, hemp, ax, wool, or other similar stock, and mix with it wood ber in varying proportions, according as the thickness and quality of the wick shall determine. Ihus a thick wick may be made to carry a larger proportion of the wood ber than a thin one can, as a less proportionate quantity of cotton ber, or its equivalent, which felts readily, will be required in a thick wick than in a thin one to give the bat the necessary strength. The wood ber should be thoroughly disintegrated, the neness of the pulp depending somewhat upon the thickness ofthe wick and the quality of the rest of the ber as regards its felting capabilities. As any of the most approved machinery for preparing the material may be employed, it is not necessary to describe any part of it in detail. After the wood and other ber has been thoroughly mixed it is formed into bats and felted by means of any well-known process.

During the operation of felting I generally prefer to use woolen felting sheets, in order that the bat-particularly the outside portions-shall not be too hard, as it is desired to leave it just as porous and elastic as is possible, while at the same time retaining sufcient strength and tenacity. By using woolenfelting sheets I cando the Work with less pressure and produce a bat of very uniform texture without. Under ordinary circumstances I prefer to use the cotton, hemp, or similar ber, in the raw shape as it is found as an article of commerce, but under some circumstances it may be more convenient to use it in a recomposed state. After the felting is completed I cut the sheet into strips of the proper shape and size for wicks.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As a new article of manufacture, a lamp- Wick composed of cotton, hemp, ax, or wool ber admixed with disintegrated wood ber, and then felted, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

CALVIN P. LADD.

Witnesses:

- WILLIAM FRAME WALTER WHITE. 

